American singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain (1967 - 1994), performs with his group Nirvana at a taping of the television program 'MTV Unplugged,' New York, New York, Novemeber 18, 1993. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)

Entertainment

Smells like name dropping: Huntsman references Kurt Cobain during debate

You can’t pull the cool pop culture savvy card if your references are twenty years old.

But that’s what GOP presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman did during Monday’s debate.

Calling into question the Social Security debate between former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Texas Governor Rick Perry, Huntsman said, “I don’t think anything should be off the table except maybe some of the drama that’s been on this floor today. I don’t know if that was written by Kurt Cobain or not.”

The former Governor of Utah was alluding to Romney’s book, “No Apology,” which sounds only slightly similar to Nirvana’s 1993 song “All Apologies.” The single was written by the band’s frontman Kurt Cobain, who took his own life a year later.

After Huntsman spoke of the late rocker, former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic began tweeting about the presidential candidate.

“Kurt Cobain Lives in the GOP presidential debate! Kurt supported Jerry Brown for president in 1992,” Novoselic wrote of his deceased bandmate. “I’ve never seen heroin – seriously. I’m addicted to oil though: Olive Oil!!! #Huntsman.”

Novoselic continued that he’s pro-Huntsman, “OK – I’m now officially interested. #huntsman…I’ll campaign for @JonHuntsman and if elected, he’ll nominate me for Dept. Of Bass Tossers. I will go down in flames in Senate confirmation.”

While the Huntsman-Novoselic warm fuzzies could be perceived as cute, the Twitterverse wasn’t so touched by the random reference.

“I have an announcement: All Kurt Cobain and 90s grunge jokes have been made. Please cease and desist all further efforts. #999isajoke,” wrote one unamused Twitter user.

“Jon Huntsman makes bizarre Kurt Cobain joke in a GOP debate & the only man to get the reference is Wolf Blitzer. #Tweetthepress,” tweeted another chafed individual.

Caleb Howe of Red State gave his two cents with the tweet, “Huntsman has referenced Kurt Cobain and heroin so far in this debate. He’s clearly after the all-important early 90s grunge scene voters.”

Howe was referencing a later line by Huntsman, when the former governor said, “This country needs to wean itself from its heroin-like addiction to foreign oil.”